


Cora's Flight

by snowqueenlou



Series: Time’s Threshold [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Cora and Erica potential friendship, Cora is resourceful, Gen, Hale Family Feels, Kid!Erica, Little Cora, One Shot, Peter Hale is a Little Shit, Ravens, Same world as Nemeton's Shade, Sassy Cora Hale, Standalone, The Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Warning: Kate Argent, Wolf Scouts Camp, cora is ten years old, giant canon plotholes that wound my soul - Freeform, how did Cora make it to South America, kid!Cora, making sense out of nonsense, original timeline, the princess saves herself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-16 10:29:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21034784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowqueenlou/pseuds/snowqueenlou
Summary: Cora Hale was only a child when Hunters ripped her family from her. Alone, not knowing whether the Hunters would come back for her, afraid to give herself away as a werewolf, it was clear that nobody was going to show up to save her. If she was going to survive, she’d have to save herself. (This story is a standalone for Timeline A, you do not need to have read any of the other parts.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in the original timeline, starting on the afternoon of the fire, what happened the first time, at the beginning. Before Stiles traveled. 
> 
> Thanks PDXTrent, for letting me bounce all kinds of weird ideas off you, as well as the coffee shop outings to storm our brains. And also for telling me that if I wanted stories about kids, I'd have to write 'em myself. I still blame you.

** _Friday:_ **

Babies were such a pain. After the family dinner for her mom’s 40th birthday, Auntie Leanne had foisted baby watching duty off on Cora with the help of Uncle Peter’s bribery. The babies, Oliver and Elliott, weren’t really babies anymore, their second birthday was coming up soon, but they were the youngest born of her cousins, so until there were more Hales, they’d probably stay “the babies.” Auntie Leanne had dressed them up for the event, in little matching glittery balloon graphic t-shirts. Elliott’s chestnut hair was pulled into two little topknots, held with bright cherry-red pompoms, and Oliver’s had been combed back with gel into an itty-bitty, dashing pompadour.

Usually Derek was on baby duty for these things, he had the magic touch with babies and little kids, and the twins adored him, but he and Laura left right after dinner for some stupid game thing at school. Uncle Peter had bribed Cora with a $50 gift card for Best Buy, to watch the toddlers in the family room, saying to Auntie Leanne, “If I have to spend the entire night listening to the Howler and the Faux-Howler, instead of relaxing in my quiet penthouse, I’ll claw your eyes out, sis.” Mom had leaned over and slapped the back of his head, and Auntie Leanne punched him in the arm, but Dad had just lifted his wine glass to Uncle Robert and winked at Uncle Peter. Grandma and Grandpa were helping dad drain the bottle of wine, and were off baby duty too.

Ordinarily, Cora would have parroted Laura’s response to babysitting requests, “Crotch goblins are a tool of the Patriarchy to prevent Women from exercising their natural capacity to be Leaders...” but Cora really wanted that gift card. She was saving up for an iPod Mini.

Cora crossed her arms and squinted at her uncle, before untucking one hand and extending it palm up in demand. Uncle Peter threw his head back and laughed loudly.

“She’s got your number, Pete.” Auntie Leanne cackled. The other adults were cracking up, her dad wiping away tears of laughter.

“You’re learning, wolfling,” Peter said, still grinning. “I promise, I have it with me. I’ll give it to you… after the cake.” Cora poked her fangs out and snapped her teeth at him. Uncle Robert snorted and reached over to wipe a hand over her hair, scenting her, “Atta girl, Cora. Show those fang skills.”

“Here you go, darling,” Leanne passed little Oliver over into Cora’s arms and he started rubbing his nose, with slobber and who knows what else, on her neck. Cora reminded herself it was for the iPod cause, but she glared at Peter just the same, because this was all his fault.

Her mother patted her on the arm and said, “It’s good practice, Cora.” At least, that’s what she thought she heard, her mom’s words were pretty garbled with giggling.

“Ew,” Cora said, took Ellie by her sticky little hand and started shuffling toward the play room.

It was already dusk, so even if Cora was inclined to go to the trouble of bundling them up to play outside, she was too full from dinner to want to chase two rambunctious toddlers around the yard. She figured it would be easier to hang out and watch Bug’s Life or Snow Dogs like good babies, but no. Cora had made the rookie mistake of telling them about the cake, then telling them they had to wait for it until the grownups were ready. She was still carrying Oliver, and he threw himself backwards, bawling out “cake cake cake,” which sparked the same tantrum in Elliott. Cora barely avoided dropping him, and scrambled to hit play on the movie, but Elliott wolfed out, pointy ears quivering with the intensity of her ire, and tried to bite her brother, who was closest to her. Cora yanked back on Ellie’s t-shirt, and her fangs clacked together around nothing but air. Not to be dissuaded in her toddler bloodlust, she turned and sank her fangs into Cora’s forearm.

“Jeebus crisps, little fang-monster,” she hissed. The punctures healed almost instantly, but being a chew toy for her little cousins was not how she planned to start her weekend.

“I do not get paid enough for this forking job,” Cora growled. She grabbed Ellie by her pull-ups and tried to drag her away from her brother. He was doing his best to bite Ellie back, howling and scratching even though he was 100% bonafide human. In spite of Elliott's fangs and wolfie nature, it was Oliver who had racked up the highest bite count on family members compared to any Hale before him, wolf, human, or otherwise. Cora did not want Ellie or herself to get mauled by Oliver again, that kid was probably really some sort of demon instead of human, judging by Auntie Leanne’s sour face every time anybody mentioned their father. Mom and Dad acted like it was some big secret, but Cora knew stuff, she’d met him once when Auntie was pregnant and he’d smelled terrible.

Defeated by a bribe, she figured if nothing else, baby wrangling was good practice for sparring, and how long could it really be until cake time? It was easy money, though Cora had to stay sharp if she wanted to keep Elliott’s fangs and claws out of her favorite hoodie, little hellion.

While she held each child out of reach of the other, she frantically tried to remember what it was Derek did that made both babies so crazy about him? She suspected it was just his face. Maybe his epic fuzzbrows. Cora channeled Derek-face, pulled her brows down low, squinted her eyes into a glower, and snarled. Both twins froze, heads swiveling in tandem from being locked onto each other like guided missiles, to see what Cora was doing. They stared for a few seconds, looked at each other, then dissolved into giggles. “Again, again!” Elliott begged. Cora growled. They giggled more. Cora dropped her fangs and rumbled deep in her chest. She shifted until her eyebrows disappeared, and hair sprouted at her cheeks, and the giggles turned to belly laughs. When she pulsed her brows and sideburns gone and back, the twins clutched each other and howled with laughter until they were gasping.

“What the h. e. double hockey sticks you dumb babies,” Cora groused, laughing with them. She did not understand babies. Oli popped his thumb into his mouth still giggling, and Elliott stared at Cora, enraptured by her shift. Cora lunged for the remote and hit play on the movie. Finally, the twins settled to watch the show. Twenty minutes later they were sound asleep, so she picked them up and tucked them into the portable crib, running her hand over the backs of their necks. She was irritated and totally done with baby madness. And it still wasn’t cake time. The adults were all still sitting around the table, talking about councils and pack politics and other stupid stuff. Their pack was small, mostly family only, but her mother had a lot of pack alliances, and they talked about it constantly.

While the toddlers slept, she opened the computer cabinet and logged into AIM, hoping her friend Luciana was online.

CorAlanna: u there Luc?  
Luci95: hi c wat ur moms bday?  
CorAlanna: soooooo bored :p bbsitting twins  
Luci95: luckeeeeee  
CorAlanna: not rly got bit by demonchldrn  
Luci95: with fangs omg hahaha  
CorAlanna: yeah tot fangs from el, oli just bites  
CorAlanna: good news bad news?  
Luci95: good  
CorAlanna: derek gonna b counslr at wolf camp this summer  
Luci95: OMGOMGOMG1!!!!!!!!  
Luci95: wait bad news?  
CorAlanna: Laura not going, some intern thing but D!!!!  
Luci95: CAN NOT WAIT. Hows ur shift ur uncle got u fullshift yet???  
CorAlanna: nooooo 0_o can do just my brows n ears tho  
Luci95: OMG  
Luci95: gtg mom sez homework ttyl  
CorAlanna: booooo so bored k 2mrw.

She spun around in circles on the computer chair for awhile, trying to get dizzy and contemplating the severity of her boredom. For a half a second, she thought about poking Oli and Ellie so they’d wake up and do something, however irritating it would be. Finally, she decided what she needed to dull her boredom was some tunes.

Cora stomped up the stairs and down the hall to Laura’s room to swipe her iPod. It was hidden in her underwear drawer, like that could stop Cora from finding it. There were some very interesting lacy panties that weren’t in there the last time Cora had needed to appropriate a thing from her sister. She made a note to investigate this new development as soon as possible, it could be useful as leverage to find out information about Derek’s top-secret girlfriend. She didn’t especially like teaming up with Laura, but like Uncle Peter said, “use the tools you’re given.” She was pretty sure her teenage sister’s fancy panties qualified as a ‘tool'.

Since the babies were now sleeping, Cora figured her duties were done, gift card earned, and she definitely didn’t want to go listen in on boring talk about boring Alphas and boring alliances, so she slipped out the side alcove door and wandered across the yard to her treehouse. She climbed up, dragged a blanket out of the built in seat, and laid down on the floor. It was pretty dark in the treehouse, so Cora hit shuffle on the iPod, crossed one knee over the other, and hummed along under her breath to Queen’s Radio Gaga, The Police, Patti Smith, Missy, Pink, and Depeche Mode, because Laura was the best at music, mostly. Cora was going to copy a bunch of it when she got her own iPod.

She was clicking past some John Mayer, she couldn’t listen to his dumb Wonderland song one more time without scratching somebody, when she caught sight of light flickering outside the treehouse window. Cora pulled her earbuds out and heard an odd crackling noise. Then she heard somebody laughing high and loud. She jumped to her feet, clasping the iPod to her chest, at the same time she felt a cacophony of emotion come through the pack bond. Cora shifted, fangs descending, vision sharpening in the gloom, and broke into a sweat as she looked out the window opening toward the house. Flames were licking up the sides of the porch, around the windows. A wail rose up from inside, her Auntie Leanne calling out. “Ellie, Oli! Robert get the babies…” her mom, “Sam, find Cora!” her dad shouting her name. She could distinguish Uncle Peter’s roar, and her Grandpa bellowing orders, why weren’t they coming out?

She could see in the yard a blonde woman, dressed all in black. She held a torch in one hand, blue flame visible even in the flare from the fire. Cora stared, terrified, the breath squeezed from her lungs. The woman had her head thrown back, and she was the one laughing, high pitched and triumphant. Cora could see other people on the edge of the property, armed with guns and crossbows, swaggering through her yard like they owned it. Hunters.

Cora was completely still, relying on her lessons from Uncle Robert on how to be small and unnoticeable. She couldn’t feel anything but the pressing horror, her own and that coming through her bonds, she gripped at her chest, claws pricking through the shirt into her skin, panting, eyes wide, shifted gold. With her enhanced vision she picked out movement through the basement windows, they’d get out through the tunnels, she knew they would. They all practiced Uncle Peter’s attack drills until they could do them with their eyes closed, her family would be safe, she only had to stay hidden until they could come rescue her.

She backed away from the window, onto the treehouse floor, and crawled over to the built in seat. Cora climbed inside the box and carefully, silently, lowered the lid over her. She could still hear the cries coming from inside the house, why hadn’t they left through the tunnels yet? She ground her hands over her ears, pressing hard to block out the cries as they turned to howls of rage and agony. She could hear the babies shrieking hysterically, then suddenly both twins’ cries were cut off and Cora felt a pang deep in her belly. Time crawled and the sound of her family’s howls merged into the mocking of the hunters. One by one, the cries and howls from her dad, her aunt and uncles, her grandparents, and finally her mother, went silent while Cora sobbed noiselessly in her hiding place. With every lost voice, she felt a tearing in her chest and stomach, until at last, blessedly, everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Cora was introduced in canon and we were told nothing, this has been my personal most irritating plot hole. Cora was in elementary school. She survived by hiding in a treehouse?!
> 
> That gets her through the fire. That's it. How the hell did a 4th grader get not just out of town without anybody knowing she was alive, but out of the country? Ugh!
> 
> I can't even tell how much time I've spent in the tags searching for somebody else's story to plug that gap. (Still haven't found one.) I finally decided that if I really need to know the answer to that 'how' and 'why', I'd have to write it myself, even if before a month ago, I hadn’t written any fiction in *mumble mumble* decades.


	2. Chapter 2

_ **Saturday** _

It was mostly dark, only little strips of light in front of her face, and Cora felt a gnawing under her ribcage, like cold after you can’t feel it anymore. She reached out and tapped the wooden plank just there above her, wondering why her claws were out in her sleep. And where was she? Maybe the empty pit in her stomach meant she was having a nightmare? Laura’s iPod was gripped tightly in her other hand, but the battery was dead. She remembered she was in the treehouse, tucked into the box of the built in seat. She pushed the seat away and sat up, blinking hard in the light. She could smell smoke and burnt wood, asphalt, melted plastic and scorched metal. There were men whose voices she didn’t know, talking to each other from below her in the yard.

Cora stood up, quietly stepped out of the seat and made her way over to the treehouse window. She remembered now what she’d seen and sensed the night before, but maybe she was wrong and they escaped, maybe the hollow feelings in her middle were only bad memories. She was unprepared for her house to be a charred, misshapen mass, or for the way her heart hammered hard in her chest. She knew her family was still in there, and the babies… Cora was gutted. It was like she was moving through cotton, everything felt muffled and dull, her vision blurry and dark at the edges. Even as she looked through the faces of the people in her yard, hoping to see Derek and Laura searching for her, she stayed quiet and still. They were all strangers, maybe there were hunters among them - Cora didn’t want to give away the precarious safety of her position.

She remembered the knife Uncle Peter had given her in their training sessions, and she went to retrieve it from its hiding place under the built-in seat. She also took the altoid box from where she’d hidden it in the body of a doll. She had 3 wolfsbane bullets and a lighter in the container, and if there were hunters around, she’d best be prepared if she were injured. She thought of the few supplies hidden in her forest survival cache, out in the Preserve, she figured she might need them until Derek and Laura could come to find her. Cora was almost grown up, and wasn’t going to lie to herself about what happened to the rest of her family, she could feel where they were missing in her body.

She wished she had learned how to full shift already, and she closed her eyes and reached for her wolf, squeezing tears from her eyes as she tried to shift through her beta form to wolf.

She could hear two of the men below saying something about Uncle Peter.

“...heard they dug one out still alive early this morning. Massive burns, think it was Peter Hale. He won’t make it, wasn’t conscious.”

“Shame it was him and not one of the others, but I guess it won’t make much difference if he’s comatose, poor devil.”

“There was always something weird about those people...” they wandered too far away for Cora to understand their words.

Cora wondered if her siblings had spotted the hunters and were keeping a low profile until it was clear. She sat back to wait, practicing her breathing like Uncle Robert… like she learned from her control lessons. Derek would find her, he just had to feel her through the bond. He’d know where she was, they were best friends. As soon as it was safe, he’d come for her, and her sister would protect them both.

+++++

Cora startled awake. She had cocooned in the blanket and fallen asleep. It was nearing twilight, and she was still alone, Derek and Laura hadn’t come back for her yet. Cora looked out across the yard, extended her hearing, alert to any noises that belonged to humans. There were no human sounds, only natural noises from bird calls, small animals like squirrels, and what sounded like a fox picking its way through the underbrush at the edge of the trees. She was hungry and thirsty, so she clambered quickly down from the treehouse and headed out into the Preserve to get her hidden supplies. She knew she at least had some jerky, water bottles, and the space blanket out there. There was also a flashlight. She made her way back to the treehouse and tried not to think that the hunters could have found Derek and Laura too. She tried not to think that she could be completely alone except for maybe Uncle Peter in a coma.

She ate her jerky and drank some of the water, leaned against the wall in the treehouse wrapped in her two blankets, and floated in and out of dreams of pack, her mother’s love, the scent of family, and nightmares of flame, and hunters, and blonde women laughing in flickering light.

_ **Sunday ** _

It was dawn, pale light spilled through one of the window openings. Cora opened her eyes to see a raven standing motionless on the sill of the doorway. She watched for a moment, the raven unbothered by the examination. It leaned down, and placed on the floor a small object it had held in its beak. It tilted its head at Cora to examine her from one eye, rattled at her, then inclined its eye back toward the object. Cora reached forward cautiously, mindful of the size of the bird, the sharpness of its beak, and the knowledge that a threatened raven was capable of aggressive defense. The raven remained in place as Cora retrieved the object, a small polished stone that may have come from the river nearby. She held the stone in her hand for some time, gazing at the raven, who watched her with what felt to Cora like solidarity. The raven croaked again, turned and hopped into a graceful glide towards the ground below.

Cora rose and looked out the doorway into the yard. There were more ravens ranged about in front of her destroyed home. Slowly, she climbed down out of the treehouse, and stood before them in the yard. Cora was mesmerized by what seemed be some kind of deliberate gathering, all of them waiting in preternatural silence. She looked up into the trees surrounding them, where there were hundreds of crows balanced on the branches, swaying in the early morning breeze, feathers ruffled up against the chill. Cora shivered and turned her attention back to the ravens. Several of them stalked forward and placed objects on the ground in front of her, another small stone, a branch of toyon berries, a dead field mouse. Wide-eyed, Cora bent to retrieve the branch, and held it close to her chest, hands trembling, now aware that this was part of a ritual, that these crows and ravens were there to honor her family. The first raven rattled and clacked at her, and a chatter of caws and babble sprung up from the surrounding trees, raucous and coarse.

As the din settled down, Cora stepped forward, still holding the branch, extended her other hand to the ravens, and whispered, “Thank you.” The first raven inclined its head to her once more, clacked twice, and as one, all the ravens lifted off and flew away through the tree trunks into the Preserve.

Cora peered up at the crows in the treetops, who seemed inclined to remain where they were for awhile, then turned to stare at the ruins of her home. Vapor tendrils were still escaping in the cold morning air. Everybody was gone. She examined the berries in her hand and thought of the mouse gift, both were inedible to her. She was so hungry, she thought about shifting and hunting for a rabbit. Uncle Robert talked about eating small prey when he ran the Pacific Crest Trail a few years ago, but Cora had never eaten anything raw before except for sashimi, and she also had never caught her own prey. Her family joked about it all the time, but werewolves in peace didn’t have to hunt for dinner, any more than humans did. Even on full moon runs, when they chased small creatures like rabbits or squirrels, for the children it was a game. Cora didn’t know the first thing about finding bunnies on her own, nor have a clue what to do with it if she caught one.

She had no more food, no supplies beyond what she had stashed in the treehouse and the forest cache. All she really had was Laura’s iPod, a knife, some empty water bottles, and an old blanket. She walked over and started picking her way past the burnt porch, through the emptiness that had been her kitchen, into the remains of her living room. She looked around at furniture she couldn’t move, electronics that wouldn’t function, turned and made her way delicately up the damaged stairs. Nearly everything was either charred, melted, or covered in soot. She knew she was missing some time from when she felt her pack bonds tearing away, because she couldn’t recall the sound of emergency vehicles or firefighters, if they had even come, or when they’d found Uncle Peter, if he was still alive.

She collected a few things. From Laura’s room, she took a porcelain treasure box containing two tactical knives, a pair of boots, and a hoodie, smoky but nearly undamaged, that were pushed under what was left of her bed. Where the guest room had been, she found a baby quilt in a partly burned cedar chest, along with a picture of the twins in a frame, mostly protected. There were baby clothes inside, too, but she left those. Derek’s room and the library were both just gone, and there was nothing else she could safely reach, except for her own room.

Cora’s room was the least damaged, her bed was still there, although partially burnt, and covered with debris and soot. She sat down in the remnants of her room, visually tracing the scorch lines extending up the wall behind her bed, where she and her mother had been planning to paint a planetary mural. Her mother had picked out soft new midnight blue bedding to go with the theme, she realized that was gone too. In the closet she knew was a large box of her dolls and stuffed toys they'd worked on sorting after the holidays, all neatly packed up to be given to the twins at their birthday party next month. She felt her heart thump hard when she couldn’t dismiss the images of Elliott and Oliver, or the tears that slid down her face. Cora tipped over and curled up onto the remains of her bed, swiped at her tears with sooty hands and moaned, “Oh babies, I’m sorry I called you monsters.” Again she reached for her wolf, wishing she could full shift and disappear into the Preserve.

Time passed, and Cora remained curled up, imagining that she had a tail to tuck up around her, staying as far into her shift as she could, while the shadows on her blackened floor grew longer. She may have slept, she may have just drifted, but after awhile, she sat up, lifted the bottom of her t-shirt and wiped at the dried tears and dirt on her face. Cora stood and squared her shoulders, it was time to take stock of her resources, and face the fact that Derek and Laura weren’t coming. She was alone, she couldn’t full shift, she didn’t know if there was anybody in the extended pack still alive, or if the Hunters had gotten to everybody. Even if there was somebody here she could turn to, she had no way to reach them.

It was time to gather up everything she might find helpful from the wreckage of her home. She didn’t have time to cry over it right now. She started methodically checking through her room for anything salvageable. The lower part of her dresser was relatively intact, and held some clothing, one of Derek’s basketball jerseys, and a kitchen knife she’d hidden to start her indoor defensive cache. The box of toys for the babies was partially burned, but she couldn’t bear the thought of sorting through the toys she could never give to them now. Other than that, the few things that weren’t burned, were mostly melted, or too heavy to take, or not useful at all. She took everything she could carry, picked her way back out of the ruins, and climbed back up into the treehouse. The crows remained swaying in the treetops, chattering to one another. A lone raven stood on a rock, perhaps one of the wardstones, at the Preserve’s edge.

Cora set her found things around her, laid down on the floor, tucked the jersey and the baby blanket under her head, pulled the other two blankets around her and wept until she fell deep into exhausted sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The crows in canon are depressing. I wanted to see them do more crow things, but then I realized that where there were werewolves, (and the murder of werewolves,) there were also likely to be ravens paying their respects, eh?
> 
> Yeah, cut some slack for the bird fanatic. If you've never seen a full roost before, you should try to find one, it's one of the wonders of the animal kingdom. There's a crow roost on one of the University of Washington campus that has well north of 10,000 crows. In Portland, where seasonally up to 15,000 of them will fly in at night and roost downtown (making an absolute poo-mess of everything,) the city has brought in Falconers to help chase them away and make it an inhospitable roosting location.  
[Crows on UW Campus](https://www.uwb.edu/visitors/crows)
> 
> Okay that's enough out of the bird lady. Chapter 3 is coming in a couple of days. Gotta get Cora out of that treehouse. Comments and Kudos warm my bird loving little heart.


	3. Chapter 3

_ **Monday** _

When Cora woke, she stayed bundled up under her blankets for awhile, wishing for things to be different if she opened her eyes. She knew where she was, still in the treehouse, she could smell the smoke on her blankets, pungent in the early morning dew. She lay there listening to morning bird song, as if everything were ordinary and nobody was lost. She had neither dreams nor nightmares during the night, but still felt hollow and wrung out, her face stiff and sticky with dried tears. After what felt like ages, she heard a low rattling croak, followed by clacking. She blinked her eyes open and dragged the blanket down off her face to find a raven walking back and forth across the doorway, watching her.

She leaned up on her elbows and squinted at the raven, it might have been the same one from yesterday, she thought she recognized the way it inspected her. The bird bent forward, picked up a branch of toyon berries, and tossed it in her direction, before turning and hop-gliding out of the treehouse.

Cora scuttled out the door and to the edge of the railing to see where the raven had gone, in time to see it land on the same wardstone at the treeline and turn back towards her. Another raven was a few feet away standing in the duff. She wondered if the birds were standing guard over her, and the notion was comforting.

It was hard to guess what time it was, the sky was already bright with sunshine, but the shadows were still long, so she thought it must not be any later than 8 am. She knew now that it was up to her by herself to make her way to safety and away from the hunters. She didn’t have a phone, didn’t know any pack member’s phone number even if she did, and had no way to tell if there was anybody left here in Beacon Hills who knew of werewolves that would be a safe person.

The best plan she could think of was to go to the library and use the computer. She could message her friend Luciana. Luci’s father was Emissary to the Varela Pack in southern California, and they’d know what to do, even if they were hours and hours away. Once again Cora wished she could just shift and hide in the woods, but her mother would want her to be brave and resourceful, so that’s what she was going to do. She was a Hale, after all.

The library opened at 10am. There wasn’t much Cora could do about being hungry, but she finger combed her hair as well as she could, and used the inside of her hoodie and the last of her bottled water to scrub at her face. She shook out the clothes she’d managed to collect, put on some dark leggings that didn’t show the soot, and a t-shirt. Then she pulled Derek’s jersey over her head, and put her sister’s hoodie over the top of everything. The clothes still smelled faintly of pack, even through the pong of the smoke.

Cora climbed down out of the treehouse, and headed into the Preserve, instead of up the drive to the road. She didn’t want to go through town as much as she could avoid it, she planned to go through the trees until she could reach streets as close as possible to the library. Cora broke from the treeline only a few blocks from her destination, but she had barely walked out along the sidewalk before she started having trouble controlling her shift. Sprinting towards the library, hyperalert to either signs of hunters or sight of their usual black SUVs, she darted behind some shrubs and crouched to the ground, breathing heavily, hands covering her golden eyes.

Uncle Robert’s control lessons had prepared her better than she knew. She could be brave and feel frightened at the same time. As soon as she recognized that she was panting in distress, she reached deep for her uncle’s lessons, taking a big breath and holding it while she counted to ten. Then, as she breathed out, she picked out one thing she could feel - the gravel under her fingertips at the side of the building where she was sitting on her heels. Then, one thing she could smell - the coffee from the little cart across the way, and so on through the five senses method she learned when Robert taught her meditation. When her breathing was once again steady and she was no longer in danger of completely wolfing out, she started reciting to herself the names of all the trees she could remember from the grove around her home, then stood up from her crouch and turned to watch the library entrance, while she worked on getting her claws retracted.

It was later than Cora had estimated, so there were already a fair number of people coming and going. As she watched from her hiding spot in the hedge, a woman and a girl about Cora’s age, with frizzy blonde hair, walked through the doors into the library. A few minutes later the woman came out alone. It was intriguing enough that Cora was finally able to shift her claws fully back to blunt nails. She took a few more deep breaths, stepped out from her hiding place, and headed in, avoiding the information and checkout desks, since an unaccompanied child on a school day might be odd enough for somebody to notice.

Cora skirted the edges of the stacks, and made her way to the homework computers. Even during school hours, they were often taken up by homeschool kids, but at the moment, the only other person there was the blonde girl Cora had seen a few minutes before. She sat down at the computer next to the girl, who was about her age, and opened a window to AOL, so she could log into her AIM express account. She started to panic again when it occurred to her that Luci would be in school, and there might not be anybody to see her hail.

_CorAlanna_: is anybody there? i need help  
_CorAlanna_: please if u r there  
_CorAlanna_: Luci?

Cora waited, staring intently at the screen, biting at the nail on her index finger, reciting the alphabet to herself in Spanish to distract herself enough to stay in control. The last thing she needed was to pop claws or flash eyes in the library.

“Hey,” said a soft voice beside Cora, startling her badly. She didn’t so much as twitch on the outside, but her heart was racing. Slowly, she turned to look at the other girl who was openly watching Cora with concern, and glancing at the monitor. “Are you okay?” she asked, “you want me to call my mom?”

“Um… I’m fine?” Cora said, furrowing her brows at the girl.

“Are you sure? You kind of look like you aren’t very fine,” she asked. Cora blinked at her, taking in her practical leggings and clean sweatshirt, her sallow skin, and that she appeared curious but not aggressive, and started to turn back to her monitor. Cora’s stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly, and she clapped a hand over it, as if that could hide the embarrassing sound from the other girl. She narrowed her eyes at the sound, her eyes roving over Cora’s neck, down to her hands, and over her smoke discolored clothing.

The girl leaned down off her chair and started digging through a backpack, and Cora faced the monitor again, where there was still no change in her chat window. A few seconds later, a hand appeared in her peripheral vision, pushing something across the table towards her. The girl repeated, “I don’t think you’re fine. You can have my sandwich.” Cora turned all the way sideways in her seat to look at her. “My name’s Erica, by the way.” The chat window blooped.

Luci95: Who is this? Is this some sort of sick joke?

Cora jerked back to the screen, and frantically clicked back into the window.

_CorAlanna_: its me is this lucis mom i need help evbdy is gone  
_CorAlanna_: im at the library what do i do? I cant stay here i dont know where to go this is really me

She waited, trying to keep her breathing even, not to shift anything, hoping that whoever was online with her would keep responding. As minutes ticked by, tears welled in Cora’s eyes. The other little girl was sitting motionless beside her, Cora knew she was looking at her monitor too, but she was scared and hungry, and didn’t know what she would do if whoever was answering the chat didn’t believe her.

Luci95: Can I call you? How do I know you are who you say you are?  
_CorAlanna_: I don have a phone but i can ask the librarian

No sooner had she typed, Erica whispered beside her, “I have my mom’s phone, your friend could call it.”

Cora stared, glanced at the sandwich, and back to Erica. “Use the tools you have,” she heard Uncle Peter saying in her mind, “Okay,” she whispered back. Erica wrote a number on the corner of her notebook and turned it to Cora.

_CorAlanna_: theres a girl she has a phone u can call

Cora sent the number over the chat, and almost right away it vibrated on the table. Erica pushed the call button and handed it to Cora.

“Hello?” she said.

“Cora? Oh Cora honey! It’s you!” It was Luci’s mother, Ms. Huaute, on the line. All the breath left Cora’s lungs, and she couldn’t respond. She felt the other girl’s hand on her arm, patting her gently when she started sniffling. “Oh child, we all heard what happened! I’m so glad you’re safe! Who else is with you?” Ms. Huaute continued.

“I’m not... I’m not... nobody is with me, they’re all gone!” Cora’s cried, and Erica squeezed her arm, grounding her, moving her arm up and around Cora’s shoulder. Cora leaned against her and took a few deep breaths.

“Okay honey, where are you staying,” Ms. Huaute asked.

“At home, in my treehouse.”

Cora heard the breath whoosh out of her friend’s mother. “Okay, okay baby. Can you stay on the chat room? I’m going to call the Alpha and make a plan. If you have to leave that computer, try to sign in again as soon as you can.”

“Okay,” Cora said. She had no idea what was happening, she felt dizzy from her erratic breathing, but the little girl with her was still hugging her, and Luci’s mother would help her.

“Be safe, baby. We’ll do something. If you can’t reach us again, go back to the treehouse, we’ll find you, okay Cora? Do you understand?”

“Yes Ms. Huaute, I’ll try to wait here.”

“Okay love you, baby. We’ll take care of you, I’m going to hang up now, and call the Alpha.”

“Okay, bye,” Cora said, and passed the phone back to Erica, who disconnected.

They looked at the sandwich. “Are you hungry?” Erica asked. Cora nodded, and Erica pushed the food into her hands. She put it in the pocket of her hoodie and turned to stare at the monitor.

Erica was still hugging her. Cora said, “There were bad people. They hurt my family. I’m afraid they will find me. You can’t tell anybody.” Erica squeezed her harder and said softly, “I won’t tell anybody. Not ever.”

The two girls sat together without speaking, their chairs pushed together so they were touching at the shoulder and leg. The physical contact was settling to Cora, and to her wolf, she didn’t have to concentrate so hard to keep her control. The other girl kept working on her homework, stealing little glances every few minutes. Cora took the sandwich from her pocket, and held it in her lap. Food wasn’t allowed in the library, but she was so hungry. Erica leaned closer and spoke in her ear, “It’s okay, I’ll keep watch, you can eat it.” She had scarcely finished speaking before the sandwich was gone. Erica frowned.

The chat window blooped, both girls jumped, and bent their heads to face the screen.

Luci95: Are you still there?  
_CorAlanna_: yes  
Luci95: We are sending somebody. Her name is Cecilia, she is leaving now driving. She will reach you by midnight, or hopefully sooner. She will have L’s papa with her. It’s best if you talk to no one but them. You should also delete this chat log, do you know how to do that?  
_CorAlanna_: yes  
Luci95: You need a codeword. Do you remember the place you met my pup? Don’t say it if you do. Do you remember?  
_CorAlanna_: yes  
Luci95: Good child. Cecilia will find you, she will say the code, and you will go with her. She will bring you to us. Be good baby, we’ll see you soon.  
_CorAlanna_: okay

“We need to delete your chat,” Erica prompted when Cora sat unmoving for awhile. Erica scooted closer and reached over to start clicking around until the record of her chat was gone. Then she opened the phone, scrolled to the call record and deleted that entry too. “There, no traces for the bad guys.” She lifted her chin belligerently, tilted the phone for Cora to see, and gave her another hug.

“What are you going to do until midnight?” Erica asked.

Cora shrugged. “I guess I’ll stay here and read for awhile and go back home to wait.” She slumped down in the chair, chewing her nail again.

“You could still come home with me. You know, if you want.”

“I can’t,” said Cora, “bad guys. My friend’s mom says not to tell anyone.”

Erica watched her solemnly for a few minutes, then offered, “I come here every day ‘cause I homeschool. Come back here tomorrow if your friend doesn’t come to get you. My mom will help you.” She leaned forward and hugged Cora again. Cora couldn’t resist scenting her, and tucked her face down to quickly run her nose along Erica’s collarbone. She smelled warm and sweet, with a little tang of chemicals in her sweat. Cora no longer had a home or a family, but in that moment, she had a friend.

Erica picked up the phone and said, “My mom will be back to get me pretty soon. If we can’t tell her, you’ll have to go over there away from me.” She started packing up her books and other things in the backpack. Cora stood up and moved away, her hand lingering on the other girl’s arm until she was far enough to break contact.

She moved around the end of the stack just as the woman she’d noticed earlier walked up to Erica.

“Mrs B said you made a little friend today?” she asked.

“There was a girl,” Cora held her breath, afraid Erica would tell, but she continued, “she used the computer next to me for homework.”

“What’s her name? Is she home-schooled?”

“I dunno mom, she didn’t talk much,” Erica replied.

“Well, when you see her again, maybe you can try talking to her,” Erica’s mom prompted as they headed to the checkout desk. Cora headed back to the fantasy section to look for the Lioness book she had been reading, but it was checked out. She wandered over to see if Princess Bride was on the shelf. Laura had used to read it to her when she was little, and it would be a solace, but it was checked out too. She idly started tilting books out to see the covers, and pulled a book with a cover a lady in a cloak carrying a hawk. She went past the rest of the shelves into the back of the library and tucked into a little reading nook.

Cora jerked out of the story of Reisel and the goshawk, and hurriedly put a hand over the title, feeling vaguely like she should be reading something from the young readers area instead of this. She glanced up sideways at the librarian who had a hand on her shoulder, but she wasn’t looking at Cora’s book, instead she was peering at her face in concern.

“What time is it?” Cora asked, trying to forestall questions. She didn’t really know this librarian, but she had noticed her watching when she sat with the other girl earlier.

“It’s after 2, do you want me to call your parents?” the librarian asked.

“Nope,” Cora hopped to her feet and hurried over to put the book back on the shelf, she couldn’t check it out without a card, and would have no way to return it even if she could, “I have to go meet them, bye!” She scurried down the aisle and out the front door.

The sun was still shining brightly, and it was unseasonably warm. Cora dreaded going back alone to the house, but she was still fearful of being seen by any hunters who might still be in the area, so she headed back through the Preserve toward her home. As she approached, she heard several voices near the house, so she ducked behind a small stand of trees to listen. They were too far away to make out what they were saying, they seemed to be making notes. There were three vehicles in the yard, one was marked BHFD and was labeled “Fire Investigator” on the canopy, the second was marked with an insurance logo. The last one was a black SUV with darkened windows.

One of the men was talking, an older grey-haired man in a black jacket, there was a bulge under his arm that Cora knew was a shoulder holster, she could see the grip of a gun peeking out from the front of his open coat. She shivered into her beta shift involuntarily, and slid back further into the treeline. She couldn’t go back to the treehouse now, she didn’t know who those men were, but could feel in her bones that the older one was dangerous.

As silently as Uncle Robert had trained her, she moved through the grove, brushing her hands against tree trunks to leave her scent for Cecilia and Luci’s father, if they arrived before she got back. She walked quietly until she reached the rock cavity that she called her ‘forest cache’, where she liked to stash her emergency supplies. It was empty now, but big enough to crawl inside and curl up, still shifted. She was well hidden, but it was cold in the little cavern.

Later, she had no way of knowing how long, she heard the rattle and clack she was starting to identify as coming from the raven. She uncurled and climbed out of the rock hollow to see what she was sure was the same bird, along with its mate, standing on another rock a short distance away. The raven croaked in her direction, then flew through the trees in the direction of her home, the other bird right behind. Cora followed them both taking it as a sign that the men had gone.

When she got back she scrambled up the tree into her treehouse to check on her things. Everything was untouched, probably the result of Uncle Peter’s insistence on preparedness, it occured to Cora in that moment that the treehouse was probably warded to be unnoticed. Tears welled up in her eyes, because there was nobody she could ask, but if it were true, it was the only reason she was still here.

Knowing she still had many hours to wait, she thought about what else she might take with her. She picked her way back through the house and up to her room, to dig through the box of toys she’d left. It made her heart ache to think of the birthday party that was never going to happen. There was less damage than it looked like at first, and she took a small teddy bear and a stuffed wolf, then pulled free a soft floppy violet bunny that had belonged to Derek. Hugging the toys to her chest, she stood there for a long while, nose buried in the toys breathing in the scent of her siblings still present, then she went back out to her treehouse to wrap up all of her things to take with her.

Well after dark, she heard a vehicle come up the main road and stop down below the drive. A few minutes later she heard somebody calling her name softly. Cora stumbled out of her treehouse, past the raven perched on the rail, nearly falling down the tree trunk in her haste to reach the woman. On the ground, she froze in a crouch, looked up at her and choked out, “codeword?”

“Coyote Creek,” the woman said. “I’m Cecilia Varela, Alpha Varela’s sister and Left Hand, and this is Roy Garza, Luci’s papa. You’re okay, wolfling”

Cora launched herself from her crouch, and fell into the werewolf’s arms, wailing in loss for her mama, her family, her cousins. Cora howled, shifted and striking out in her trauma. The Left Hand, a hard woman, and strong, gathered the broken child up in her arms, clawing, biting, shrieking, and held her tenderly through her salt wet grief and blood.

Cecilia took her coat off, warm with the scent of pack, and wrapped it around Cora. She sent her companion up into the tree to gather up Cora’s things, telling him to hurry, the howls could draw hunters, predatory as they were. The moment he was back on the ground, Cora’s things wrapped up in blankets, she gathered Cora up in her arms and sprinted to the car, Cora clutching tightly to her shoulders.

She settled Cora quickly but gently in the back seat, and Mr. Garza opened the other door to place her things beside her, and told her, “Buckle in, cub, we’re traveling fast.” Scarcely had he gotten in the car himself, and Cecilia was driving.

“We’ll stay in a hotel just in the next town tonight and leave early tomorrow for Montecito where our pack is,” Cecilia was saying, as they drove out of the Preserve and prepared to turn onto the main road. A black SUV pulled up to the intersection, the same old man from earlier, and a blonde woman, visible through the windshield. Cora threw herself down out of sight, shaking violently, she’d shifted, and couldn’t control the loud growl escaping her chest.

Mr. Garza dialed somebody on his mobile, looking back at Cora in alarm, “Change of plans, we’re driving back straight away, not taking any chances.”

Cora shook and shook and shook, Mr. Garza reached back through the seats and rubbed her back and her head as they drove through the dark, until she fell into a restless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still sad that we didn't get WolfCora and WolfErica in TW, the two of them teaming up would have been madness in the best way. Hey, how about that, we finally got Cora out of that treehouse...


	4. Chapter 4

** _Tuesday_ **

Other than a couple of rest stop breaks to switch drivers, and one trip through a 24-hour fast food place, they drove south down the 101, straight through the night, arriving mid-morning in a little coastal town near Santa Barbara. Big gates stood open to allow them access to the drive leading up to the Varela pack house, and Roy got out and did something at the gate that Cora thought might have to do with their wards, before they drove through. Unlike the Hale house, the home seemed to have been built to blend in with the surrounding forest. It was only two levels, and the front of it was not that wide, but it had big picture windows and clearly open rooms inside, since she could see straight through one of the rooms into the trees behind the house.

Alpha Varela stepped from inside onto the porch as they climbed out of the car and stretched. She was a very small woman, with eyes that were so dark brown they were nearly obsidian, and umber skin with high rosy cheekbones. Her black hair was cut short into a glossy pixie cut that framed her face. She was terrifying, and she was standing there watching Cora, her head tilted to the side, her forearm held across her belly, scrutinizing her like she could see all the way to her insides.

Cora tore her eyes away from the Alpha to get her first good look at her two rescuers. Where the Alpha was tiny, her sister Cecilia was tall and athletic, with thick curly hair that sprung up in a mahogany cloud around her face, and elegant eyebrows arched over amber brown eyes. No less ferocious than her sister, Cora felt reassured by the proximity of the Left Hand. Mr. Garza, in spite of what his name suggested, was a strawberry blond, so pale he was nearly paper white, except for the ruddy flush on his cheeks and neck, the dark runes and symbols tattooed on his arms, and the orange freckles that dotted every square inch of unmarked skin she could see.

From the porch, the Alpha called to her, “Welcome Cora, I am Alpha Alta Varela, I knew your mother, we had an alliance, she had my deepest respect.”

Cora swallowed, ducked her head and studied the ground in front of her, holding back tears until she could reply. “Your welcome honors me and my family,” she replied formally. She knew it was disrespectful to look away during the greeting, but she was filthy, tired, and so alone, and it was all she could manage.

“Did you know,” the Alpha said, “your mother and Aunt Leanne went to wolf camp with me and Cecilia many years ago when we were all children? Just like you and Luci. I’m going to miss her very much.” Cora’s eyes snapped to Alpha Varela in astonishment. The Alpha's eyes were crinkled into a kind smile.

Luci came barreling out of the pack house to meet Cora. Mr. Garza leaned down and said, “We kept Luciana home from school today to be with you, she doesn’t know about your family unless you want to tell her.” Luci grabbed her around the waist and started jumping up and down. Her joy was infectious in spite of everything, and Cora joined in with a little jumping and a weak laugh which didn’t quite erase the sad downward tilt of her eyes. Mr. Garza put a hand out to quiet his daughter’s excited puppy wiggles and told her, “Luci, your friend has had a long couple of days traveling, take her inside for a bath, and get some of your clothes for her to wear.”

Cora let Luci pull her through the house, chattering happily about all the things she wanted to share with her.

+++++

Late that night, when Cora couldn’t sleep, when all she could see or hear every time she closed her eyes, was flickering light of a fire and an evil woman’s laugh, she crept out of bed and down the hall to where the Alpha and other adults of the pack are talking about what to do with her.

“She has extended family in Montana, Alpha,” Cecilia said. Cora wasn’t surprised that the Left Hand would know this, it was part of their duty to know everything, but she was surprised to hear that she had family she didn’t know of. Somebody squawked, it sounded like Ms. Huaute, Luci’s mom.

“I wouldn’t want to send the daughter of Talia Hale to Alpha Hyperion, he’s a _pinche_ woman hater, I’m surprised he hasn’t manned a hunt to take out some of Glacier Park’s wolf pack alpha females out of pure spite that canid wolves aren’t respecting the male hierarchy,” she said, voice heavy with scorn.

“But if they’re family, however distant, we have to consider rights…” Cecilia began.

“Talia hasn’t been in communication with the Montana cousins in generations, by intent. She had little tolerance for supremacy. We all know this, especially you, Ceci,” Alpha Varela interrupted sharply, cutting off further argument.

“Is there any other family locally or anywhere in the Southwest? What if she stayed with us? Roy and I could make room here easily,” replied Luci’s mother, and Roy grunted a confirmation.

“Mariana, she can’t stay here, the connection is much too close. Talia and I go back a long time, even if we weren’t close. And would you really want to send Talia’s child to any pack within a thousand miles of the Hale packlands? We know who did this, how long do you think it will take them to realize there was a witness to the murders? How many of us would they spare, if the Hunters found her?” the Alpha answered, firm, but not unkind.

“Why would they care about a child, Alta?” Ms. Huaute protested.

“They don’t. They’d regard her as just another beast to be put down. There are still Hunters that follow the code, who might be interested in what the daughter of a Hale has to say, but there are also those who will do anything to destroy her. No. She is not safe here either, though you are a true _wolf mother_ to offer to take her as your own. I have some contacts I can use to spirit her away. One can only hope that she is her mother’s daughter in courage and strength. She’ll need it. It’s best Mari, if you and Luci forget her name. For your safety and for the child’s.”

There were murmurs of assent around the table, and the sound of chairs being pushed back. Cora slipped back from her hiding spot, ready to sneak back to Luciana’s room when Alpha Varela said, “Ceci, stay here please, I’d like to talk to you about our plans. Cora, you can come out now.” Cora jumped, wondering what gave her presence away. Resentful, she shuffled into the room and joined the two women.

The Left Hand was grinning at her. “Oh wolfling, don’t be upset, you did well, I doubt any of the others noticed, but this is what we do. You just need to keep practicing quieting your heartbeat.” She reached out for Cora and pulled her in close, scenting her cheek and hair. Cora leaned against her, and quickly scented her back, rubbing her temple on Cecilia’s chin, it was calming.

“Cora,” the Alpha started, “you heard, good. I’m sorry you have to grow up so quickly. Do you understand why we can’t keep you here?” Cora breath hitched and she nodded, a lump in her throat from holding back her tears. They were sending her away, she had wished so hard she could stay with her friend, she was alone and afraid, but she understood what she overheard.

The Alpha gazed at her serenely and continued, “We are sending you to a distant cousin of mine. An Alpha I trust, he’s a good man, with a large pack. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s taken in an orphaned cub. I can’t tell you the name, the fewer people know your destination, the safer for all of us. You leave tomorrow with Ceci and Roy - Mr. Garza. They will take you across the border into Mexico and travel with you for a few days, then you will need to travel on with a different contact. Cecilia and Roy will travel another direction to lay a false trail for extra protection.”

Cora grasped Cecilia’s arm frenziedly, claws digging in a little. She was trying so hard to be full of courage, she was going to people she didn’t know, she missed her mother so much she ached from it, and she was desperately scared, but she would try. Cecilia’s warm arms surrounded her, and she puffed warm soothing breaths of air into Cora’s hair, surrounding her with her scent.

“We’ve given you a new name, child, we will need to start using it right away. You have fake documents being prepared so you can leave, I’m so sorry we didn’t have time to ask your preference.”

“Like Witness Protection?” Cora asked, and Alpha Varela smiled softly and stroked a thumb across her cheekbone. “Smart girl.” She held her hand out in the direction of the bedrooms, “Now let Ceci tuck you in for the night. You will have long days ahead of you and you’ll want to be ready to have your goodbyes with Luci in the morning.”


	5. Chapter 5

_ **Wednesday** _

The two girls clung to one another, Luci had been told enough that both girls knew they were unlikely ever to see each other again. Vapor from their breath puffed out into the cold morning air, and Cora let out a whine into her friend’s shoulder. Luci stepped back and reached out to wipe away Cora’s tears. Sniffling, Cora turned and climbed into the SUV where Cecilia, and Luci’s papa were already waiting. She pulled the door closed and watched her friend until she was out of view, before slumping against the door and reaching for the stuffed toys that had belonged to her siblings, and still smelled of her pack. She was so tired with emotion, the loss of her family, and rapid change, she dozed on and off for hours, holding the toys to her neck, as Mr. Garza drove down the coast, then inland.

+++++

Travel blurred the days one into the next. They drove several hours at a stretch, then stopped for food or rest, heading east into Arizona, then south towards Mexico City. Cecilia started to teach Cora a Taekwondo form. It wasn’t much like Uncle Peter’s Krav Maga inspired methods, but she found it grounding. Too soon, they crossed the border into Guatemala where they were scheduled to meet with the next transport, a Cadejo named Arturo, a thin, pale man, who would take her for a couple of days into Panama. Cora didn’t know who or what her next contact would be.

And she was Lorena now, “Lo” like her sister.

While the Cadejo transferred “Lo’s” bags to his pickup, Cora made her goodbyes with Cecilia and Luci’s papa. Cecilia scented her, stroking her hair, rubbing her temple on Cora’s cheek, and whuffing into her neck. “Be good wolfling. Mr. Arturo will see you safely to the next contact. I promise the pack on the other end will be kind to you.”

“Uncle Peter always called me ‘wolfling’, he was my mama’s Left Hand, who’s going to teach me to be the Left Hand now?” Cora said, chin quivering.

“Sweetheart, I knew your Peter and how much he loved his little wolfling,” Cecilia held Cora close enough that she could almost feel the woman’s heart beating over the flutter of her own. “I know you’ll be Left Hand someday, but don’t forget your other lessons. Learn your shift, you’ll be a formidable wolf when you’re grown.” She released Cora into Mr. Garza’s arms, who embraced her before settling her into Mr. Arturo’s truck.

She traveled on to her next exchange point in Panama, and then on a leisurely route through South America, before finally arriving in a bustling coastal village called Talcahuano, in the Central part of Chile. After the Cadejo, she had been accompanied in turn by two different shifters, a Siren, and last a Seelie who was repaying an honor debt. The Seelie, who looked, depending on the light, like a boy barely older than her brother had been, or like a wizened old man, delivered her on a bright day in late March to a pack compound outside the town, that was a cluster of little brick homes with tiled roofs. He refused to enter the gates, instead piling her bags just on the drive, before hopping back into his tiny Peugeot and zooming off, waving and shouting, “Adiós, Lo!” from the window.

The pack grounds were frenetic with scampering children, human and werewolf alike, watched over by a few teenagers who chatted in the shade. Cora stood there for a few moments, unsure what she should do, when one of the teens, a girl, jumped up and dashed into one of the cottages. Immediately, a man came running out to greet Cora, she knew he had to be the Alpha. When he reached her where she was standing near the gate, he flashed his red eyes to her and gathered both of her hands into his own. “Lorena, child of my friend and my Allies,” he said, “as Alpha of the Castillo Pack, I welcome you.”

++++++

++++++

“Lorena?” Alpha Castillo called out as he hiked up the matorral slope to the plateau. As he crested, he spotted Cora practicing her Tai Chi near the edge of the ocean overlook.

She had grown into a serious young woman, and he felt great pride to watch his adoptive daughter practice her craft with such gracefulness. His own Left Hand, a vibrant and playful Kitsune woman, (the complete lack of irony in having a Kitsune as the pack’s Left Hand was an unending source of amusement to him,) had trained her into a skilled and prodigious warrior, even as young as she still was, but it was her devotion to meditation that gave her the greatest advantage. She used those meditative methods of control to teach the pack’s cubs how to access their own shift with intent.

Because of Alpha Castillo’s dedication to taking in orphaned shifters, they had a young were-puma, and a were-coyote, among their werewolf and human pack, both of whom had already achieved their full-shift. This morning though, his daughter had spent training time teaching the pack children how to dodge and run from potential human predators, while unshifted, how to break grappling holds to escape, and when to fight back. The lessons were mostly geared so the children learned skills through games, it was Cora’s particular gift, along with her resourcefulness. She calls them her “wolflings.”

She would someday make an impressive and sought after Left Hand. But the Alpha knew that these lessons frequently put his Lorena in a nostalgic and sad mood, remembering the family she’d lost. When that happened, he could usually find her here at the overlook where she retreated to lick her old wounds.

She turned to watch him when he called out, her dark eyes keen to pick up the tells that he had sought her out with some purpose. As usual though, his daughter held her words, waiting for him to come to the matter in his own time. She could be sharp with her tongue, but the scared, quiet, grieving little girl who came to him so many years ago, had grown into a woman who knew that waiting to speak was often an advantage.

He stepped up beside her, and the two of them looked out over the ocean, bare arms touching, noses upturned to breathe in the salt air.

“I miss the forest, Papa. I think I’ve forgotten the smell of the Redwoods,” Cora said. He studied the pines nearby, so different from the fir and sequoia of her childhood packlands. He turned his head to watch her quietly, before taking a deep breath, ready to tell her his news.

Cora moved to face him directly, squaring her shoulders, looking ready to take on the entire world. Alpha Castillo hoped his little girl would never again need that much determination, but he was afraid for her.

“Lorena,” he spoke, “Cora.” Cora’s eyes went wide and a tremble flicked through her arms. He took note of how his daughter moved automatically to pat the small knife tucked into her belt, a small habit she used to reassure herself when she was worried. “Cora, I’ve received word from Alpha Varela. There’s a Hale Alpha in Beacon Hills.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't go Cora! Look out for Alphas! 
> 
> This story grew out of my frustration with the canon idea that Cora escaped the fire and nobody knew she was alive AND she ended up on a different continent, WTF c'mon really? I mean, Satomi Ito was the closest allied pack that we knew of, how did she not end up there, or at least Satomi knowing about her? 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, comments and kudos warm my little Coradoring heart. <3


End file.
